Horror Genre Analysis
Content
- The main purpose of a horror film is to instill fear into viewers. Many films aim to produce nightmares and terror of the unknown. While the horror genre attempts to scare the audience, it hopes to entertain them through the adrenaline rush associated with fear. Frequent themes associated with the horror genre include supernatural events, the macabre, religion, and survival.
- The horror genre usually involves a group of friends such as Friday the 13th, or a family such as the movie Be Quiet. Often, the plot of a horror movie is developed when the main character decides to investigate something further, such as the creaking of a door or the flickering of a light. Horror movies almost always include a killer, such as an evil spirit or a mentally unstable individual. Death is also very common in horror movies; the character that the audience is made to like the most usually ends up dying.
Production Techniques
- A variety of unique filming techniques are used to ensure that a horror film suits its purpose. A notorious technique that has made itself a staple in the horror genre is the jump scare, where a seemingly quite scene is interrupted by a loud action or noise. Another staple in the horror genre is in the lighting, in which films are usually made to take place at night. The dark is usually associated with the supernatural and fear. Dramatic shadows are also created to elicit suspense. Often, a sound will be heard without any whereabouts of the source of the sound, further creating suspense.
- The Dark Voyeur POV shot is very effective in creating suspense and fear. With this technique, a scene is shot through branches, a window, or a closet. This makes the character appear vulnerable to the killer or evil force in the film. Also, horror films love to implement extreme close-up shots of both the monster/antagonist and other characters so that the audience can feel what the characters in the movie are feeling, which is usually dire fear and agony.
- Make-up artists are often used in production to create gory and intense costumes. The use of CGI is also common in higher-budget films.
- The setting in a horror film is a key element in getting a scare out of the audience. The locations usually are isolated and evoke a sense of loneliness and helplessness. Examples include a discrete cabin in the woods, an abandoned ghost town, or an urban environment with dark alleys.
- Finally, sound plays a very important role in the production of a horror movie. Sound effects must be used to scare the audience, such as in a knife stabbing or an otherworldly scream. The Leitmotif technique is used as a certain sound is associated with the onset of danger.
Marketing
- When it comes to institutional conventions, a movie will not be successful unless it is marketed properly. If a company is unable to sell tickets, what was the purpose in creating the movie anyway? Movie producers implement many marketing tactics symbolic to the horror genre in order to effectively reach their target audience.
- It can be established that many horror movies are released in the months of September-October. Many producers do this on purpose, given that Halloween is on October 31st. At this time, many people are often in the mood for a scare and are more likely to attend a horror film for the sake of tradition.
- While many horror movie trailers are notorious for revealing too much content in their trailers, this is often done for good reason. Portraying a certain killing or event in the trailer might leave viewers confused, leaving them thinking about what could have caused such a murder. Horror film trailers make sure to hook viewers and usually reveal the antagonist so that they become more interested and curious. Trailers also usually include dark colors and low light to evoke a sense of fear in viewers.
- The usual age groups associated with the horror genre are teenagers and young adults. Given that these groups of people, aged 15-25, are usually tech-savvy, it is imperative to use social media to get a hold of these individuals. Social media marketing is extremely effective and may benefit even more from the bandwagon appeal.
- Horror film productions have a wide range of institutional conventions that help them market their film to a wider audience. For example there are many different major events all around the U.S that help promote horror. One of them is only a couple hours away at Halloween Horror Nights at Universal in Orlando. This event helps promote new and old horror films by changing the whole theme park into a real horror movie with thousands of actors and many haunted houses for you to visit. There are many more horror based conventions all around America helping the horror movie industry a lot.
- IT : This movie embodies the genre as it includes many examples of genre conventions such as film techniques in trying to scare the audience, and with hopes to entertain them through the adrenaline rush associated with fear. You can also see the movie IT being marketed to a target audience of 15-25; the target market of horror movies. This shows another example on how the movie is an example of movies categorized in the genre of horror.
- The Conjuring : The movie The Conjuring very closely embodies the genre of horror as it shows many prevalent similarities in general marketing techniques, and production techniques. For example the conjuring used advertising purposely targeting young adults ranging from the ages of 15-25. Continuing on this they also marketed around the months of September - October. This is done when marketing a horror film as October represents the season for horror films, such as December representing the season for festive and Christmas films. Another factor is the production techniques. Jump scares is a film technique very common in horror movies; The Conjuring contains shots having jumpscares as well as other production techniques like POV shots and fast paced cuts and scenes.
Film/Magazine Examples
